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The man behind HTC's hardware design is leaving the company

If you've used any HTC device in the last five years, chances are you've witnessed Scott Croyle's handiwork first-hand. Unfortunately, his time at the company is coming to an end as HTC has confirmed that Croyle is moving on to other to-be-determined projects. Croyle, who joined the company in 2008 as part of the One & Co acquisition, has been directly involved with building HTC's flagship devices ever since. Now, he'll be handing over the baton of responsibility to Jonah Becker, who's been Croyle's right-hand man in the studio. The move will be a gradual transition, as we're told that he will stick around in a consulting role for a while to finish up his projects (M9 anyone?).

In related news, HTC's head of Sense's user experience, Drew Bamford, will now head up the HTC Creative Labs in addition to his other duties, and will report directly to CEO Peter Chou.

Croyle's departure comes at a turbulent time for HTC, which has seen quite a few employees and executives leave the company in the past year. Since design comes early in a phone's development process, it's quite likely that HTC's upcoming wearable, as well as next year's flagship device, are both on Croyle's list of projects to finish. If this is the case, we'll continue to enjoy his craftsmanship for the immediate future, but the longer-term is still a big unknown; does Becker have the same vision for HTC's design after 2015, or will the company go in a new direction?

We reached out to an HTC spokesperson, who provided us with a few pieces of information regarding the situation.

"HTC remains at the forefront of smartphone innovation. Scott Croyle will be focusing on special projects and dedicated on next generation developments."

"HTC continues to invest in talent and recruitment as part of our broader human resources strategy to ensure the continued strength of our company's organizational structure. To achieve our long-term goals as a business and return maximum value to our shareholders, these are necessary steps to drive ongoing innovation, ensure our ability to create strong products like the HTC One (M8), and forge strong customer relationships that solidify our future.

Drew Bamford is experienced and talented leader at HTC with solid track records in leading and building our user experience team. Effective immediately, in addition to his current duties in product development and user experience, Drew will lead HTC Creative Labs and focus on innovative new products and user experience strategies. HTC is proud of its employees and has a track record of hiring the best and brightest."